Serendipity
by Khilai
Summary: A young Edward and Alphonse have been condemned to a desolate island for one month alone, and along with limits on alchemy and an 'irrelevant' riddle, only the most basic instincts apply. Namely, survival.
1. Precursor to Luck

**Disclaimer:**_All characters, and the basis for this fanfiction, are not made by me. I DON'T OWN THEM, AT ALL! I wish I did, but that doesn't count. So, no lawsuits, because I can't even pay for my own school lunch.. Hopefully, I only have to say that once, if this becomes more than a one-shot. That depends on you, though. :D _

-

Salt deposits, gradually abandoning their oceanic origins, flecked against his filth-ridden, excessively bruised countenance. Tendrils of golden-blonde hair, though always somewhat disoriented, were now attached to his facial features because of the overabundance of sweat he released in such a humid, accursed region. Sweat, now, was water he could hardly afford to lose when the potential of dehydration was so high; his blurred vision mocked him of that very threat, and made it all the more tangible and real. No matter how many times he brought one of his hands up to rid his forehead of salt, particles of sand, and water, it seemed it simply returned faster than he could remove it.

If not to sleep, he mentally begged night hours to befall him and his brother, just to be able to bask in its idyllic coolness rather than to suffer another hour of the relentless sunlight. His heartfelt wishes, as expected, continued to go unheard and ungranted. That had become excruciatingly clear.

It was in these situations, he could only curse himself for ever being so naive to actually _agree_ to putting himself in this hellion environment. Granted, it had been an indirect agreement, and he had been completely oblivious to the discreet setup for it, but even so, he could have prevented it. He should have learned alchemy like he always had. He was always told he had the talent, and he wholeheartedly must have believed at least some of it; therefore, he still could not bring himself to even understand why he bothered asking a disturbed woman for assistance in something he could have learned all on his own. _Without_ the needless torment, and the bodily scent he was beginning to give off.

Then it hit him. His brother had mentioned it, and his brother knew better than he would about asking for help and the benefits of doing so. _'We can't learn all this on our own.' _Alphonse was probably right, as he tended to be, but the overwhelming heat still pushed Edward to think there could have been much more appealing alternatives. Even so, dwelling on it _now_ would do no good, and he could do nothing more but make the most of the circumstances. The dreadful, abhorrent, disparaging circumstances.

His target was plainly in view - or relatively so, considering blurred vision - and as long as he kept to silence, aside from his mental tirade, he actually possessed a chance at catching his prey. It was, indeed, a pathetic goal to wish to catch a small rat and give it the label of 'dinner,' but at this point, pride and elegant meals did not matter. The blonde boy was hungry, and more importantly, his little brother was hungry. Being the oldest meant he had to take a certain degree of responsibility, and provide some kind of nourishment for his brother, if nothing else. It was just that simple.

Without stalling any longer, not even to conjure a plausible plan for his assault, he lunged forward with his small fingers extended in preparation to clamp down upon his opponent; however, his confidence shattered in an instant as the rodent perceived oncoming danger and quickly scampered out of Edward's grasp. The sudden jolt of the enemy instantly resulted in everything going awry, and the small blonde crashed head-first into a lithe rock embedded into the soft earth. With all of his sensories so irrepairably distorted, at least for the moment, he could have almost sworn that the escaped-meal had turned back towards him, shot him a cynical glare, and skittered off triumphantly.

The only thing he, himself could possibly think, was, _"_That_ BASTARD!"_

Trying to bring himself to stand, or even to support himself on his hands and knees, proved to be absolute failure. Either his motor skills were temporarily hampered from that mishap, or his body was being disobedient from the soreness and shooting pains it suffered. Defiance and rebellion were a combined concept he was undeniably familiar with, and for this reason, it brought all the more enmity when _he_ was the one left to handle it. He was learning just how exasperating that quality could be, whether it be physical or social, but it was not the knowledge he sought after, nor was it something he would care about later. It was a lesson he would never learn, since insubordination was half of his character.

Finally, his eyes managed to respond properly, and opened to narrowed amber slits encumbered with nothing but swirling distortion. Apparently, his vision was even further disarrayed than it had been from the heat, and certainly if he could have, he would have pounded the ground in frustration at that point. Having no knowledge of how long this ailment would last, he had not the slightest idea of how to explain this all to his brother. Moreover, he had no _desire_ to be lectured about taking care of himself, taking caution, and some drabble about 'thinking before he acted.' As far as he could see it, he was only trying to do something beneficial, why should he be punished _twice_ for failing?

Time slowly progressed, and thankfully, he had slowly begun to regain more of his consciousness. Svelte digits assumed responding to the signals Edward gave them, allowing him to gradually lift himself onto his knees; however, even this brought him collapsing back downward, thanks to his vision and lack of balance. It was obvious that he would not be able to walk right away, or get up and run back to his younger sibling.

Crawling was not so much a problem as it was embarassing, but luckily, the only people on the isolated island were he and his sibling. The small child proceeded the infantile action, following his below-average sense of direction, instincts, and impaired vision; lacking control, he ended up stumbling several times along the way.

This kind of migration was painfully slow, and the dream he had so desired hours before - the presence of night - had finally become a reality. Now, it was a despised prayer that would have been better left unanswered, shot, and buried beneath superior ones. The frigid night that blanketed everything in layers of darkness only added to his visual complications, rendering him almost completely helpless, and left to discover the right path through trial and error. The locations of rocks, vines, and twigs, were encountered more than anything else; despite the problems he was faced with, his resolve and motivation was stronger. Determination told him he had no _choice_, that he _had_ to get back to his brother one way or another.

If he failed to do this, chances were, his sibling would become too concerned and feel compelled to come looking for the elder Elric. That, he thought, would be the worst scenario possible, and it had to be avoided at all costs.

"Feel bad enough I got us stuck here.. the last thing I need is him to do somethin' stupid and justify it with that 'worry' crap," Edward whispered to himself. "Maybe he managed t-.."

-

_The original was MUCH longer than intended, so I finally broke it up into two chapters.. And I'm not going to put up the second half until after Fanfiction goes down. If you saw it before, then.. Well, I guess you know what happens and it doesn't matter.. um. _

_Sorry! I haven't touched fanfiction in almost a year, so.. I couldn't stop. Anyways, please leave a review? Prettyplease? -Whines.- _

_They make me really happy.. Even if they just criticize._


	2. Grasp of Nightfall

**Author Note: **Looking at everything, I saw a way the first chapter could be broken up a little better. This way, people might not get frustrated with the length? That's what I'm _hoping_, anyway.

-

The child's one-sided conversation soon came to an abrupt, unwanted halt, as the sound of something rustling nearby reached him. Judging by the course of the day, he figured it was relatively safe to assume it was something detrimental and prepared to make his life more difficult. Unfortunately, it was the one time he would have loved to be proved wrong. Out of both impulse and instinct, he fell to the earth in hopes the threat would be unable to detect him. A minor miscalculation, accompanied with the fact he just could not maneuver himself as well as he usually could, forced him more on his side than his chest and stomach area. That seemed to be extremely trivial, at the time.

Low, unfriendly hissing sounds reverberated about the desolate area, and before the youth could completely register the meaning behind the noise, something impaled his soft stomach in two places. To make matters worse, the puncture was needle-esque, which could only increase his normally concealed fear and distaste.

Edward bit his lip immediately, though he still found himself incapable of masking all of his screaming. His hand instantly shifted down to apply pressure to the lightly-drenched injury, while visionaries closed tightly in childish hope to dispel the pain and escape the world that seemed to be inexplicably cruel and malignant. This, also, came to a sudden end, but at least this time, it was inclined in a positive direction.

He could not trust his senses to correctly alert him to exactly how near or far the voice was originating from, but he did know that the voice belonged to Al; therefore, in a frenzy of panic, he savagely tore the bottom of his ebony shirt off and tossed it a small distance away. Two small holes in thin, dark fabric would be too suspicious, too much of an indication of what had transpired, and far too much ammunition for 'needless' worry from his brother. In a mental set of rules dealing with brotherhood, ones which he actually abided mostly because he had created them himself, he had no _right_ to subject his brother to concern. Especially when these incidents could have been avoided if he had only _listened_ to Al once in a while, _asked_ for help, _thought_ before he went and did reckless things.

Now he was lecturing himself. After all the trouble he had went through to avoid it, all it took was his brother's voice to bring it back in a captivating tide. Was it _wrong_ that he wanted to acquire food for them to share, and spare himself chastisement afterwards?

Alphonse was held back only for a second before he, too, heard the uninviting sound of reptile-like hissing. Without a second thought, he moved all his weight forward to rush towards the sound of his previously whimpering brother; yet, he found himself stopped but a few feet away. Unmerciful vines had managed to entangle themselves within the navy-blue jeans the younger boy wore, and unless he was prepared to receive several cuts on at least one of his legs, he would have to remain where he was. The repeated hissing noises told him he had no choice in the matter, and dutifully, he tore himself away from his captors and bitterly welcomed the damage to his appendages.

It wasn't much, but the fading branch he held within his right hand, alight with a fading conflagration, was enough weaponry to invoke fear into the snake. The intimidating hisses flared up in malevolence for but a second, and soon enough, the snake slithered away from the two brothers. The fabricated inferno finally withered to nothing, ultimately leaving the two children to fend for themselves in absolute darkness.

"Nii-san, are yo-.."

"Forget that, I heard something rip! You can't ever bitch at me again if you're hurt!" Edward cut in.

"Don't curse.. and I just have a few cuts, that's all. I bet they already stopped bleeding, if they ever started.. Are you hurt?"

The inquery had struck too suddenly, leaving the golden-haired youth in an awkward silence for a while. Facial expression insinuated a disheartened attitude, but when enwreathed in the shelter of night, it went unseen and unnoticed.

"I hit my head earlier, yeah.. but it's not bad, and other than that, you've got nothing to worry about..!" The older Elric replied hesitantly, soon resting his head down upon the dirt near his brother's knees.

"I'll look tomorrow, Brother.. I have a feeling you're lying." Al had acquired an expertise for reading his older sibling's emotions, and that included the most subtle abnormalities in his tone that had become so critical for detecting fallacy. He was probably the only person alive who had spent enough time, and was trusted enough to be allowed to understand those more obscure things about Ed; if he did not take the time to care, then nobody else would.

"Then.. I bet you're lying too! I bet you're hurt and you're just being _JUST_ as stubborn about it!" Desperation was blindingly obvious in the stressed voice, the increased volume, and the whining that the elder's tone was backed with.

"So, you _admit_ you were lying?" Again, it was the little things that Alphonse was able to pick up on that became Edward's biggest weaknesses.

"... Shut up and go to sleep."

Neither of them could tell how far away from their normal campsite they were, but they were given no choice but to reside here until the daylight hours; though it obviously was not the safest course of action, since wildlife seemed to be active in the general region, neither of them could muster the energy to walk, and neither of them could see where they were going. The moonlight, the only source of efficient illumination when all else failed, was comfortably shielded behind thickened layers of clouds.

"And thanks.." Edward muttered beneath his breath, uncertain if his gratitude was acknowledged or not. Al, however, had all the thanks needed in having his brother beside him, and gave no direct answer but to smile. The affectionate moment would have been much more enjoyable, if only small droplets of rain had instead been contained in the dark clouds adorning the heavens above. The light shower escalated into a complete thunderstorm, and unsurprisingly, sleep did not come as easily as it should have.

To think, there was only a month left of this nightmare.

-

**BloodSakura17**: Thanks, and, I did take care of the length already. I hope it's better now.


End file.
